


Scaredy Cas

by jhoom



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, So take that as you will, Twincest, but no sex is involved, high school!au, in that they're kinda dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:29:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8326114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jhoom/pseuds/jhoom
Summary: Cas hates Halloween.  He hates all the horror movies, the scary costumes, the haunted houses, all of it.  Which is unfortunate, since Jimmy and Dean love it all.  Which is how Castiel finds himself on the way to a haunted house, the very last place he'd ever want to go.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shannon_Kind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shannon_Kind/gifts).



> this is a prompt fill for [shannon-kind](http://shannon-kind.tumblr.com) who wanted some dcj hurt/comfort with a halloween theme ^-^
> 
> this is vaguely set in high school, but the boys aren't old enough to drive yet. it's heavily implied but only explicitly stated once at the end that the three of them are dating. 
> 
> come visit me on tumblr [@jhoomwrites](http://jhoomwrites.tumblr.com) \- i'm always happy to talk about deanjimstiel or destiel ^-^

They find out about it in art class.  Castiel’s doodling at the corner of his sketchbook, not really paying attention to the excited chatter a few tables over.  It’s not until Dean’s slamming a flyer down in front of him that he looks ups from his drawings.  Brow knit in confusion, he reads the ridiculous font (dripping blood of course and little screaming faces making up all the holes in the letters).

“Field of Screams,” he reads.  “Three acres of haunted fields and a haunted mansion guaranteed to terrify all ages.”  He looks up at Dean, only to see the other boy’s face light up in excitement.

“It opens this weekend.  You and Jimmy wanna go?”

He swallows thickly but dismisses the constricting feeling in his chest.  His twin brother Jimmy is a sucker for all things Halloween.  The candy, costumes, the horror movies, the corny Monster Mash track he plays over and over in the car each morning.  The scarier, the better, and Castiel isn’t exactly a fan.

Truth be told, he _hates_ Halloween.  Although he loves the leaves changing color and the crispness in the air, the sweaters and scarves and pumpkin spice, Halloween is a trial he endures every year.  Ever since he can remember, Jimmy’s been sneaking them downstairs when their parents aren’t paying attention.  He’d raid their DVD collection or scour the TV listings for every scary movie he could find.  The only time he ever protested, Jimmy teased him for weeks, calling him Scaredy Cas over and over until Castiel gave in and watched the movie.

(He couldn’t sleep without the light on for a week.)

And since they’ve met Dean, he’s joined them for their yearly viewings.

He knows Jimmy and Dean think he’s unmoved by it all, mostly because they babble through their nervousness and squeeze each other’s hands under the blanket.  Castiel, however, doesn’t flinch during jump scares or hide under his blanket.  Not because he’s not afraid.  On the contrary.  It’s usually frozen in fear.  He doesn’t tremble or get goosebumps, he just sits there and endures the horror with a slight scowl.

So of course his brother and best friend think he ‘takes it like a champ’ and is impossible to scare.  Really, he wouldn’t even be able to sleep at night except for the fact that he and Jimmy share a room.  And Jimmy, the perverse kid he is, enjoys the thrill of being scared but will usually crawl into bed with Cas in the middle of the night.  With his brother wrapped around him stealing kisses, it’s only then that Castiel can let out a sigh of relief and calm down enough to fall asleep.  

But now he’s reading over the flyer for the Field of Screams, knowing it’s exactly the type of thing Jimmy would love.  it would take little to no convincing to get his brother on board.  It’s also the type of thing they’ll _assume_ he’ll love, given that he’s never once made a peep about how easily rattled he is or the nightmares he still has about _The Ring_ and _Saw._

So he chooses his words very carefully as he says, “Jimmy would definitely like to go.”

“Sweet!”  Dean’s face beams and he starts gushing about how awesome this is gonna be and when should they go and when can they talk to Jimmy about it and his parents can probably drop them off if they go this weekend.

As always, Castiel endures it.  And Dean, in his excitement, doesn’t notice that Cas’ smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

\----

It’s Tuesday when they finalize their plans to go on Saturday evening, giving about five days to mentally prepare himself.  He throws himself into his school work to distract himself from the growing sense of dread he feels.  

Scary movies are one thing.  He can retreat into his head if he needs to, can ground himself in the fact that he’s safe in his basement, curled up in a blanket with his brother and Dean nearby.  But this will require him to _be_ in the middle of this nightmare come to life.  Walk through the fields and see the monsters - no matter how fake - face to face.  This will be a waking version of the bad dreams that haunt him every October.

Jimmy and Dean go on and on about it, oblivious to Castiel’s growing distress.  Their excitement isn’t as contagious as he’d like, but he takes some pleasure in knowing that at least his two favorite people will be happy.  

It doesn’t even occur to him to back out of going.  They both want him there, and Cas loves seeing them enjoy themselves.  Even if it’s at his expense.

So on Saturday evening, he puts on a hoodie, hoping to be able to hide in it if he becomes too overwhelmed.  He trudges out to the car with his brother and does his best to smile at Mrs. Winchester when she says hello.

He squeezes his hands into fists when they get in line for the hayride into the field, worried that if he were to unclench them he wouldn’t be able to hide their shaking.  And though it might be unnecessary, after Dean and Jimmy take a seat next to each other on the cart, he squeezes between them just to seek relief from their touch.  Luckily the other boys don’t comment, instead using Cas for cover to snake their arms behind his back, simultaneously holding him and each other’s hands.

The ride along a dirt path takes them through a strip of woods.  There are leaves everywhere, both still in the trees and littering the forest floor.  They crunch as the wheels turn, the only sound in the eerie quiet.  Castiel’s just starting to think it’s not so bad when the path dips down a hill and they descend into fog.  That’s when the howling and moaning starts.

There’s a quality to it reminiscent of an old speaker set straining to be heard over faulty wiring, but no matter how fake it sounds it gives him chills.  Dean’s practically bouncing as he shoots nervous smiles to the twins.  Jimmy’s doing the same, his lips itching to form a smile even as it wants to turn down in a grimace.  

Again Castiel questions his brother’s sanity if he could _enjoy_ this self-torture.

The wagon stops at the edge of a corn field, complete with a maze cut into it.  The headless horseman who’s been driving silently pulls down the ramp and points them to the entrance.  As they pass by, he wordlessly hands them a small map.  While the rest of their group rushes into the maze, the three hang back to study the map.

“Okay, well, I’m terrible at this sort of thing,” Jimmy says as he squints at it.

“That’s because you’re holding it upside down, genius.”  Dean pulls it out of his hands and flips it over.  

“Yeah well… your face is upside down,” Jimmy pouts.  

Dean pecks his cheek fondly but takes over the map reading.  “Looks like it’s got a lot of twists and turns.  They pretty much _want_ us to get lost.  And all these large dead ends go through these monster zones.”  He points to the spider like tendrils shooting off the ‘main’ pathway before each dead end.  They’re marked with cartoon faces - zombies, werewolves, mummies, and vampires.  There’s also one near the center that looks suspiciously like a swamp monster.  

“I wanna check out the zombies.  Oh oh and the vampires!”

“Okay,” Dean agrees, using his finger to trace a path that’ll take them through while stopping at those areas.  “I’m more of a werewolf guy myself, but those are right by the vampires so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

While they bicker about the best path to take, Castiel finds himself trying to guess how large the corn field is and how long it would take to simply walk around it…

Since Dean has appointed himself leader - and, quite frankly, since he’s the only one able to read the map - he takes up position at the front of their line.  The maze is wide enough that they would walk shoulder to shoulder, but Dean and Jimmy sneak around every corner.  Leaving Castiel to take up the rear, faking giggles to match theirs.

Five minutes later finds them in the thick of the maze, only having to backpedal once so far because of a wrong turn.  Dean stage whispers to them that they’re approaching the zombie area.  As if on cue, they hear shuffling and exaggerated moans nearby.  

“So how we doing this?” Jimmy asks, grabbing the map from Dean’s back pocket.  “We gonna make a run through or are we gonna go full zombie apocalypse and try to see how we’d do sneaking through?”

Castiel’s all for sneaking around (or completely _avoiding_ this area entirely thank you very much) and is about to say as much when the corn right behind them rustles loudly.  

“Brrraaaaains!”

The three shriek and take off.  They rush right into the mass of zombie actors limping around, all of them turning towards the three boys with arms stretched out.  Dean easily dodges around them, making his way with determined strides to the far end of the little clearing.  Jimmy gets literally spun around as he jumps out of the way, nearly falling over because he’s so disoriented.  He quickly stumbles to his feet and runs in same general direction Dean disappeared.

And Cas, well…  Cas feels like he’s having a panic attack.  He manages to get away from the fake zombies - their attention drawn primarily to the much _louder_ targets of Dean (wooting and heckling them as he goes) and Jimmy (cackling in breathless delight).  But he’s slower than them, fear making his limbs heavy.  They’re gone before he can hope to catch up, and he instead stumbles into the nearest path.

Blindly, he scrambles further and further away from the sounds until he’s met with a silence filled by nothing but his own panting.  

“Jimmy?” he calls out.  “Dean?”

He didn’t really expect anything, but it still hurts to have his cries left unanswered.

That’s when the dam breaks.  The years of putting himself through scary movies for Jimmy and Dean’s benefit.  The nightmares that he’s managed to fend off by cuddling deeper into his brother’s embrace when he wakes up afraid.  The week long dread building up, all leading to _this moment_.

His legs tremble and no longer hold his weight.  Collapsing onto the dirt, he folds in on himself and burrows into his sweatshirt.  Then he cries quietly into his knees, arms wrapped protectively around him.

He rocks back and forth, unable to calm down.  Even though he knows it’s silly, his mind keeps telling him he’s been abandoned he’s alone Jimmy and Dean ditched him because he’s a wuss he’s useless he shouldn’t be afraid he knows it’s fake never mind the very real fear he feels and Dean and Jimmy are going to do stuff without him from now on because he’s no fun-

“I found him!”

Though he recognizes the voice and the sound of approaching footsteps, it doesn’t stop his internal downward spiral.  Only when gentle hands are on his shoulders and carding through his hair does he start to relax.  When he peeks up, he sees Dean and Jimmy kneeling on either side of him.  Dean’s the one holding him steady as Jimmy brushes his hair aside and rests a hand his cheek.

“You okay?”

He sniffles and shakes his head, burying his head back in his sleeves so he doesn’t have to see their looks of pity.  

“Cas, buddy, what’s wrong?  Are you hurt?”

Over Dean’s concern, he hears his brother hiss and curse. “Fuck, you hate this shit don’t you?”

Barely holding back a sob, he nods vigorously.  

“Hate what?  What’s going on?”

In hushed tones, Jimmy explains the times he used to goad Cas into watching scary movies.  All the scary stories he’d read before bedtime, the twins in a little makeshift fort between their beds with a flashlight to keep the ghosts at bay.  And the sudden realization that Castiel’s never initiated any of it, never truly smiled or laughed with them throughout the years.  

“So basically we’ve been assholes?”  He can’t see, but he’s pretty sure Jimmy’s nodding.  “Fuck.”

“Yep.”

The two take a seat on either side of him, cuddling in and coaxing him out of hiding with kisses and soft pleas of, “We’re sorry.  We’re so sorry.  We wouldn’t have come here if we’d known.”

Eventually his tears stop and he chances a look at them.  They each give him a small, hopeful smile.  

“Feelin’ better?”

Castiel nods.  Not much, but it’s a start.  Having the two of them around never fails to calm him down and cheer him up.  

“We’re _really_ sorry, Cas.”  Dean steals another kiss as he says it.

“Yeah.  We’ll get out of here and instead of all scary movie crap we usually do, we’ll do fall stuff you like.  Dean’ll just have to suffer through a pumpkin patch tour.”

“Asshole, I _like_ pumpkin patches,” Dean counters as he reaches over to smack Jimmy.  “They mean pumpkin pie.”

“We could go apple picking, too.”

“ _That_ means apple pie.”

“Don’t make this about you, Winchester.”

“I’m just sayin’ is all.”  He turns his attention back to Cas.  “We’ll do whatever you wanna do, okay?  And we’ll cut back on all the horror and blood and scary shit we usually geek over.  It’s not nearly as much fun if you’re not in there with us.”

“It’s true,” Jimmy adds.  “I always assumed if we found ourselves in a horror movie, Dean and I would be completely useless and you’d be the calm collected one saving our asses.  You’re the only one smart enough to make sure we don’t purposely go run into a nest of zombies.”

“I’m not… I wouldn’t be helpful,” he croaks.  “Look at me, I got lost in a corn maze because I freaked out and-”

“And totally found the way out, by the way.”  When Castiel frowns at him, Dean points about fifty feet ahead of them.  Now that he’s actually looking, it’s obviously an exit from the maze.  “We’ve been lost for like ten minutes by the way trying to find you.  We actually ended up almost back at the start of the maze I think.”

Jimmy’s embarrassed huff more or less confirms it.  Despite himself, Cas’ mood lightens a bit.  

“You really mean it?  You’re not going to make fun of me for being a… for being a Scaredy Cas?”

Dean’s confused look is almost as endearing as Jimmy hitting himself on the forehead.  “Jesus Christ, I am the biggest douche in the history of douches.  You’re not still…  Cassie, I never meant to make you feel bad or anything.  I love you for you, you don’t have to pretend to like the same stuff as me.”

“Same here.  Seriously, don’t ever change.  You’re pretty awesome the way you are.”

Sheepishly, he lets his body melt into the hug they surround him with.  One of them rubs his back while the other pats his leg.  Once they feel the last of his tension dissipate, they hold on a minute longer.  When the three of them pull away and stand up, Castiel’s happy to note his legs are steady.

He reaches out his hands and his best friend and brother each take one.  They walk close together, arms brushing and feet kicking up the same dirt as they walk towards the exit.  And though he can hear the fake monsters howling and moving between the corn stalks, he’s no longer afraid.  

Well, maybe a bit.  But he can just squeeze his boyfriends’ hands and get a reassuring squeeze back.  That’s more than enough to remind him that he’s safe and loved.

**Author's Note:**

> **bonus scene:**
> 
>  
> 
> *at dean's house where mary has baked the boy about a dozen pies with all the apples and pumpkins they've brought her*  
> dean: not gonna lie, this is like a million times better than that scary movie shit  
> jimmy: you're only saying that cuz you got pie  
> dean: ... and????  
> cas: i prefer this much better as well  
> jimmy: *muttering about how he lost a perfectly valid excuse to snuggle with cas at night*  
> cas: what?  
> jimmy: what?
> 
>  **coda:**  
>  The twins are eating lunch in the cafeteria when Dean struts over with all the confidence in the world and that only Dean can pull off. He puts a flyer on paper in front of them, leaving his hand to cover the bottom half of the page. All they see are the words ZOMBIE FIELD written in fake blood and a cartoon sketch of undead men and women. 
> 
> It takes a beat for them to process the information, but then Castiel is going stiff and breathing harshly just as Jimmy looks like he's about to punch Dean. 
> 
> "Dean," he hisses, pushing back his chair so he can get up. "We discussed this-"
> 
> But then Dean dramatically pulls his hand away to reveal the rest of the text. 
> 
> ZOMBIE FIELD  
> FUN RUN - AVOID A ZOMBIE HOARD AS YOU RUN TO THE FINISH LINE
> 
> "You mean... you're _supposed_ to run from the zombies?" Cas asks cautiously. 
> 
> "Yep."
> 
> The three of them sign up for the race. Dean dresses up as Daryl from _The Walking Dead_ while Jimmy puts together a Shaun of the Dead outfit. Cas lets his boyfriends pick a costume for him, both eagerly deciding to make him Tallahasse from _Zombieland_ , complete with ridiculous hat. When the race starts, it goes about as well as can be expected. Dean and Jimmy are so busy dodging in and out of the zombie volunteers, purposely taunting them, that they actually run into each other. Once that happens, they're declared 'infected' and pout all the way to the finish line.
> 
> Cas on the other hand takes off as fast as he can, easily ducking in and out of the crowd and nimbly jumping over obstacles. He finishes in the top ten and gets a medal, cheered on at the end for being 'uninfected' and surviving.
> 
> Needless to say, they run that race every year.


End file.
